Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Brilliant six-year-old Pinny Tiger resumed racing in a blaze of glory when he romped to victory in the $31,000 Vale Graham McNeice Free-For-All at Gloucester Park on Friday night, and part-owner and trainer Michael Brennan has ambitious plans for the Victorian-bred gelding.
At the forefront of his upcoming program are the $450,000 WA Pacing Cup on November 8 and the Interdominion Championship series in New South Wales in late November and early December.
But before those assignments will be starts in the $100,000 James Brennan Memorial on October 11 and the $100,000 J. P. Stratton Cup on October 25.
“The main focus is the Pacing Cup,” said Brennan after Chris Voak had driven Pinny Tiger, the $1.70 favourite, to an impressive all-the-way win in the 1730m Free-For-All on Friday night when the gelding was making his first appearance since leading and winning the 2662m Narrogin Cup on May 11, 15 nights after finishing third behind Catch A Wave in the 2936m Fremantle Cup at Gloucester Park.
“The first set of heats for the Inters will be run at Newcastle a fortnight after the Pacing Cup, and Pinny Tiger is well suited to racing in New South Wales.”
Pinny Tiger had a taste of NSW racing when Brennan ran him in the Newcastle Mile in February 2023 when he finished fourth behind Mach Dan, and then in two group 2 events at Menangle in the following couple of weeks.
Pinny Tiger revealed his normal explosive gate speed on Friday night when he burst straight to the front from out wide at barrier seven, and he was not extended in coasting to victory by 4m over the $2.80 second fancy Talks Up A Storm, rating a smart 1.53.6 after final 400m sections of 28.3sec. and 27.1sec.
“It was a pretty soft win,” said Voak. “The sectional times were bread and butter for him. He’s not just a brilliant frontrunner, but he is also a very good sit-sprinter.”
Brennan said that Pinny Tiger had had a faultless preparation leading into Friday night’s race. “He always does well when spelling at (part-owner) Kim Tuckey’s Pinjarra property.”